Vietnamese students volunteer to help Japanese police fight crime

Many Vietnamese international students are helping Japanese police identify content related to illegal activities on social media as part of an initiative being implemented in Saitama Prefecture.

Vietnamese international students volunteer to support Japanese police's "cyber patrol" activities.

SCREENSHOT FROM ASAHI SHIMBUN

The Asahi Shimbun reported on December 1st that many Vietnamese students studying abroad are volunteering to cooperate with police in Saitama Prefecture (Japan) to identify crime-related content posted on social media sites, often using slang to avoid attracting attention.

According to law enforcement agencies, this is the first initiative of its kind implemented in Japan. The program resulted in warnings being issued to over 100 posts, many of which were subsequently taken down.

"I want to help reduce crime through this activity," said VTHien, a member of the Foreign Resident Cyber ​​Security Volunteers (FRCV) group.

During their breaks at Tokyo Nichigo Academy in Saitama, Hien and LTNa (both 19 years old) often volunteer their time there. They search for keywords commonly used in illegal activities on Facebook groups frequently used by Vietnamese people in Japan.

According to the police, many social media posts use slang or abbreviations to evade Japanese authorities. Some posts use the word "buy" instead of "buy," while others write "blx" instead of "driver's license."

There are approximately 40,000 Vietnamese people living in Saitama, making them the second largest foreign community there after the Chinese community.

Police discovered several individuals exchanging information on social media about selling bank accounts, drug transactions, and illegal activities. Police stated that abbreviations and internet slang made it difficult for Japanese translators to detect posts related to criminal activity.

For that reason, they recruited network patrol assistants from language schools and vocational schools in the province where Vietnamese students studied. Approximately 20 Vietnamese-speaking students and staff from 3 organizations joined FRCV.

During a year-long trial period that began last July, police issued warnings for 97 posts, resulting in the deletion or suspension of 75 of them. Police said they could arrest the person posting the offending content.

Saitama police also said they are considering expanding this initiative to other social media platforms and languages ​​other than Vietnamese.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/du-hoc-sinh-viet-tinh-nguyen-giup-canh-sat-nhat-doi-pho-toi-pham-185241201201610476.htm